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While some state legislatures debate banning public funds for some or all stem cell research, others are using whatever funding tools they have available to advance the controversial science. Some states use tobacco settlement money, others use revenue bonds, and still others use direct appropriations. Some states use voter referenda while most stay within the traditional state legislative process. The newest twist comes from Illinois, where Illinois Gov.

The Oregon Legislature overwhelmingly passed S.B. 853 last week, creating venture development funds to facilitate technology commercialization for students and faculty at the state's seven public universities.

For many practitioners, the quickest summary of a recent 16-page analysis from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York might be "something has to change." Looking at job creation since the recovery began three years ago, Richard Freeman and William Rogers III state in The Weak Jobs Recovery: Whatever Happened to "The Great American Jobs Machine"? that this is the worst recovery in all post-World War II recoveries.

The quality of the economic performance assessment of federal programs has improved, but gaps still remain in the application of the measures used, according to the latest report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).

A new resource published by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) argues that indices claiming to measure the same thing - namely, the capacity or potential for economic growth - often vary widely in their results and are not effective yardsticks of economic potential.

Bill Richardson, Governor-elect of New Mexico, has named Rick Homans as secretary of the state's Economic Development Department.

Fritz Bittenbender will become president of the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Association in December.

The New Hampshire High Technology Council has announced Paul Houle is the new president and chief executive officer and Mary Collins will serve as executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Gary Mahn, director of the Idaho Department of Commerce, has announced he will resign from the position at the end of the year.

Pam McDonough, director of the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs for the past four years, has been appointed to the Illinois Labor Relations Board by outgoing Governor George Ryan. Joseph Hannon will serve as the department's director for the remainder of Ryan's term, which ends in January.

Carla Patterson is the new director of the Nebraska Manufacturing Extension Partnership.

Cian Robinson, executive director of Infotech Niagara, has left the position to consult privately.

Employing more than two million workers in 2001 with an annual average wage of $47,700, the U.S. civil and commercial aerospace and aviation industry has a major economic and employment impact at the national, state and local levels in all 50 states, according to a report by the Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry. The industry also is a substantial force in civil, military, and space manufacturing and operations in nearly half of the nation's states, the report stated.

Note: With this issue, the SSTI Weekly Digest is launching a new occasional "Programs with Results" series — articles profiling a variety of technology-based economic development programs that have been around many years and are yielding positive results. Our goal is to help answer the question "What Appears to Work?" with models that potentially could be duplicated in other states, regions or communities.

Many states have made substantial strides in preparing students for college-level education, but widespread gains in the proportion of Americans going to college have not been made, according to Measuring Up 2002, a report released by the independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. The report finds that overall college opportunity in America also is at a standstill, remaining unevenly and unfairly distributed.

The federal laboratories and research facilities associated with nine federal agencies can serve as a treasure chest of technologies for commercialization, according to Intellectual Property: Federal Agency Efforts in Transferring and Reporting New Technology (GAO-03-47). The recent report by the General Accounting Office (GAO) discloses that in fiscal year 2001, nine federal agencies created 3,676 new inventions, issued 1,585 patents and received $74.5 million in licensing revenues.

Carolyn Stark is the new director of the Austin Technology Council, filling the position vacated by Paul Toprac.

Lara L. Vande Walle is the new president of the Washington DC Technology Council (DC Tech).

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced it intends to have almost $200,000 in fiscal year 2003 funds for new awards under the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM) Program. Nominations to honor individuals and institutions are invited for the 2003 competition of these annual awards.

Bill Richardson, Governor-elect of New Mexico, has named Rick Homans as secretary of the state's Economic Development Department.

Fritz Bittenbender will become president of the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Association in December.

In an era of tight public budgets, sources of seed funding for early stage and developmental research projects with potential for commercialization is getting harder to come by. Many state initiatives to support these endeavors are subject to the same budget cuts as other areas, and small firms' interests in the federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program are increasing pressure for these already competitive grants.

Each year, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program is one of the most competitive for companies seeking federal research funding. The FY 2002 Phase I solicitation proved to be no different as the agency made only 12 award recommendations from the pool of 202 proposals submitted — an award percentage of only 5.94 percent.

An increase in a city's share of college educated workers results in an increase in manufacturing output in that city, according to a report released by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has released a statistical report on Science and Engineering Doctorate Awards: 2001. The data show trends in science and engineering (S&E) doctorate awards by S&E field and recipient characteristics, institutions awarding doctorates, and postgraduation plans of recipients.

We appreciated hearing from so many of our readers that last week's special Digest issue on innovation indices was particularly timely or useful. As an additional resource on the topic, SSTI has prepared three matrices presenting the common indicators included in the national, state and local indicator reports referenced in the issue.